Monday, 30 March 2015

That beautiful creamy soft leather jacket that you keep in the wardrobe and only get out occasionally because you are "saving it for best"

SCREW THAT!

Sorry, but I am really not one for doing that, AT ALL.

A beautiful handbag that sits in the corner, possibly in a little dust jacket and you barely use it, even though every time you do, you enjoy the compliments you receive, you remember how happy the bag makes you feel and you think about possibly using it more often, well you would, but it's for best.

JEWELLERY.

How many ladies out there have jewellery that you wear very rarely? Those beautiful earrings, that were maybe your mothers, or grandmothers favourite. Occasionally you take them out and wear them, they sparkle and you love them.

But they are for b...... Oh, you know where I am going with this one.

I have all of these things, do I save them for best?

No, I don't. I treat them with love and respect but I use them, I enjoy them. If something makes me feel happy, why would I ration that?

And some people may say, that the only reason some things DO feel special is because you use them sparingly, I disagree. Anything that makes me smile, or makes me feel confident, or comfortable, cannot be diluted by using more often.

In fact by using them more often, I add to the story behind the items, I give them more history and memories that will also make me smile the next time I get them out to wear, use, carry.

My mother always said that if you save something for best, you never know. The next time you end up wearing it, may be in your coffin. You may not GET the chance to wear it and enjoy it.

(My mother is a very wise woman)

Take a look around today, what do you save for "best" and why? Can you use it, wear it, carry it, today? Give it a go.

Saturday, 28 March 2015

Friday, 27 March 2015

(if you complain, please bear in mind that for just one second, I considered bringing you David Cameron AND David Milliband-SEE? Life isn't quite so bad now, is it? Imagine if I'd have brought you the naked Cameron picture!!! Don't ask me about it, it's obviously photoshopped, no man has a penis that large.)

Now I do so love a man with an air of authority about them, a man that is confident, knows his stuff and isn't afraid to ooze raw masculinity. RAWRRR (Makes tiger claws)

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Is that BBC speak for, he's been fired but we really don't want to make this any messier than it already is? It is kind of a cop out isn't it? There will always be people saying, "well he wasn't FIRED"

Sorry, but he punched someone, there has to be a consequence to this action. You cannot go around punching someone and then get away with it.

It isn't even about someone being a role model. If you hold Jeremy Clarkson as a role model then you have more problems than JC's contract not being renewed.

What I don't understand, are the people who are defending him. Katie Hopkins, I understand, she is a contrary cunt so will go against popular opinion just to get herself airtime. Louise Mensch? Let's not even go there, and various people on twitter, including someone who told me that the BBC are hypocritical because they let Saville get away with abuse on their property.

I know, right?

It is SIMPLE, I do not care who you are, YOU CANNOT HIT PEOPLE WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES, yes, you can be sorry afterwards, you can even report it to your boss yourself, but there will, and always should be, a consequence to your actions.

Perhaps Jeremy Clarkson thought he would get away with it because of lack of consequences in the past.

This time, no.

Sorry Top Gear fans, I guess it is the end of the road for Clarkson.

What do you think, Should Clarkson have been fired instead of just not having his contract renewed? Or do you think that it is an excessive consequence?

Yesterday, I cried
Must have been relieved to see
the softer side
I can understand why you'd be so confused
I don't envy you,
I'm a little bit of everything
all rolled into one.......premenstrual mess.

It's true. Yesterday I cried. I cried because I realised that I had used my last washing up sponge to clean the oven.
Now I have no sponges to wash up, oh woe is me.

Checks calendar, oh hello. It is that time again is it?

When I am premenstrual, I am a goddamn mess. I cry at YouTube adverts, Facebook posts and, yes, using my last washing up sponge for cleaning the oven.

The most humiliating one was crying at a McDonalds advert, WHO CRIES AT A BLOODY MCDONALDS ADVERT? Oh, that would be me.

I genuinely feel as if my body at this time is betraying me, I pride myself on being able to deal with shit but for a couple of days each month I become this irrational female who just cannot handle the simple things such as a McDonalds advert. The SHAME.

Please make me feel better by sharing with me your shame about your tears, whether PMS or because you are just soppy, what was the silliest thing you cried about?

Back in February, ASOS ran a competition called #InterviewAStylist where you had to tweet which one of the fabulous ASOS Stylists you would like to interview.

For me it was a total no-brainer, I LOVE the style of Felicity Hayward and being the Curve stylist meant that I would get to pick her brains about what sort of things I should try.

And I won, which meant poor Felicity had to travel up to Leeds and buy me lunch while I asked her lots of questions about ASOS and her life as a Stylist.

Now Felicity is A-mazing, she has been a stylist at ASOS since last August as well as also being a model and she breezed through Leeds train station in a coat that I really wanted to steal from her, looking fantastic after sitting on the train from London for hours and proceeded in filling me on everything up and coming for ASOS Curve.

Quick selfie, it had to be done.

Another pic? Well okay.

This woman KNOWS her angles. I do not have one picture of her looking bad, EVEN THIS ONE!!!!

I tried to get her to teach me angles, it wasn't pretty, but anyway, I digress.

Firstly, you have never, ever, ever seen anyone as enthusiastic about the company that they work for, Felicity doesn't just style the clothes, she LOVES the clothes. The ASOS Curve range is one of my favourite ranges and it definitely came across in the interview just how much faith and love, Felicity has for the brand. I asked whether they could get in more basics as part of the Curve range and Felicity said that she would feed that back to the buyers, FAB WORK.

One of the first things that struck me, talking to Felicity was that she truly believes you need to love the body that you are in, there are no RULES, don't tell Felicity that you think you SHOULDN'T wear something, she will tell you to try it on and OWN IT. it was fantastic to talk to a stylist who didn't feel the need to "follow the rules" Felicity at ASOS wants you to be confident in what you are wearing, whatever your style and she knows that with the Curve range at ASOS she will be able to find something that you love.

One thing I loved was when I asked her, what SHOULD I be wearing? Her answer, WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO WEAR.

I think I fell in love with her at THAT exact moment.

I asked Felicity what she felt her job was as a stylist for ASOS and she explained to me that it was all about INSPIRING people in their clothing choices, maybe challenge themselves to try something new that they never thought they could wear, like a big sister giving encouragement. She said that she didn't feel that it was her job to SELL clothes, but rather show people the choices available to them. Felicity said that she gets a lot of feedback from people who have been inspired and I actually admitted to her that I had purchased a pair of Ridley Jeans after watching one of her videos.

I asked Felicity about ASOS Curve and told her how I hoped it was here to stay FOREVER and she assured me that it was, it is a big part of the ASOS brand and it will get bigger and better. it is definitely here to stay. (THANK GOD)

I also asked her what she thought about bloggers, and Felicity admitted that she loved them and finds the blogging community to be a wonderfully supportive and creative place, and she has always found the Curve community to be almost like a family in their support of each other. (which is always nice to hear)

We soon got on to the topic of Social Media, Felicity LOVES Instagram and I soon found out when she tweeted a picture of us both that Instagram LOVES Felicity, (Have you seen her? It's no wonder that they love her) PS, Thanks for the followers. You can follow Felicity on Instagram HERE, it is a great way to get a sneak peek at what fashions are going to be hitting Curve soon.

One thing that you HAVE to ask a Stylist, is what is the favourite part of your job and Felicity didn't disappoint by replying, TRYING ON THE CLOTHES.

Yep, I totally get that. It must be like having the biggest wardrobe EVER.

I loved chatting with Felicity for #InterviewAStylist it was great to meet someone who really LOVES their job and the company that they work for. It was also refreshing to see a Curve stylist not saying that you have to follow RULES, You don't have to dress thinner or wear flattering clothes. It really inspired me to try new things, I actually got a voucher to spend at ASOS and apart from having part of it torn from me by my 14 yr old daughter for clothes for her, I promised myself that I will only use it to buy things that challenge me, things that I wouldn't normally look twice at.

So far I have bought some Bardot-style tops and am currently eyeing up a fab jump suit that I may give a go.

Thank you so much to ASOS & Felicity for giving me the chance to Interview A Stylist, I loved it.

I'm off to shop. xxxxxx

What would you want to ask Felicity if you were given the chance? Do you shop at ASOS Curve, seen anything that you think I should try?

Monday, 23 March 2015

I mean REALLLLLLLLLY LOVE a song, you love it so hard that you play it on repeat, you add it to your Spotify playlists, it jumps to the top of your iTunes most played list, you have it on your phone, your computer, you even have the video on Youtube which you play (every time you have wifi) it SPEAKS TO YOU, you jump up and down when it is played on the radio because it is your JAM.

Then suddenly, without warning, you are bored to DEATH of the song and if you hear it once more you will rip off your ears and stuff the bloody flesh into the holes you created.

Just me?

Remember The Two Princes, By The Spin Doctors? (waits for most of my readers to say, WHO?)

How about Bryan Adams? Everything I Do, I Do It For You? (Do you Bryan? Then STFU, I beg you)

I'm sorry to say that I am beginning to do the same with Uptown Funk. Sorry, Bruno, I love ya and all that but there are so many times I can hear this song played without wanting to go on a rampage, and I think I reached that point about a month ago. MOVE ON, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MOVE ON.

I don't think it's even my fault, I blame the radio stations, the music video channels, (Not MTV, they don't even play music anymore. What is with that?) Every third bloody song is the SAME ONE. I sit there and think, "Didn't you just play this" Arrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

"I said, Uptown funky walk, Uptown FUCKKKKKKKKK OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"

Right, Sorry Bruno, I am sticking you in the draw with All About That Bass.

(I still cannot listen to, I Will Always Love you, by Whitney Houston. TOOOOOOO MANY TIMES this song was played. I am SCARRED by it, I tell you.

A nice and simple one today, I always start my day reading different blogs. I follow a wide range of different types of blogs, from fashion and beauty to lifestyle and some parenting blogs too. Some blogs make me laugh, some make me cry, and some make me want to seriously up my make-up game. I really don't know what I would do without my favourite blogs to wake me up in the morning.

What I want to know today is,

Who are YOUR favourite bloggers?

Share with me in the comments who you follow, whose blog do you run to every time they put up a new post? Who makes YOU laugh, cry, pee your pants a little?

Let me know in the comments below, and as HOPEFULLY more comments are added, take a second to browse through the comments, maybe you will find some fabulous new blogs to follow. I know that I hope to.

This "EXPERT" suggests that to fight a "neurosis" amongst school girls over fat, teachers should get boys to tell girls what they find attractive"

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Are we going to teach school girls that the only way that they can truly love themselves is by getting boys to give their physical features a thumbs up?

FUCK OFF.

This idiot also says that it is very important as well that the boys are from an older year group because girls look up to them.

I AM GOING TO EXPLODE.

Dr Sigman also states that boys should tell girls that there are women who appear model-perfect visually buy are just not sext and there are girls who do not seem model material but are very attractive.

HANG ON, Dr Sigman is basically wanting us to teach our school girls that the only opinion that matters, are boys? That we need to get reassurance from boys that we are pretty? Don't worry little girls, here is a boy to tell you that you are pretty. Feel better? Oh I'm glad.

I live with 3 children and, as many parents will tell you, we can have an amazing time together. My house is always full of laughter, it is loud, untidy and to any outsider, probably hellish, but we do ok.

Living with three children, two of them teenagers, means that there are certain RULES that should be followed, if you want to survive. (Think The Hunger Games, but without bows and arrows-hopefully)

Rule One,

Never pick up an overturned cup that is on the carpet. Chances are, someone has captured a bug/spider/mouse in a fit of bravery and then forgotten all about it. If you are lucky it was captured that day, if not...... Good luck with the mouse soup that you now have to clean up. (Sucks to be you)

Rule Two,

You smelt it, you dealt it.

Rule Three

He who dropped it, will deny any knowledge of doing so, he who didn't drop it, will step over it, until it disappears.

Oh that will be me will it?

Rule Four,

Socks are fickle creatures that run off with socks that are not its original partners. Socks are ho bags. Buy more socks. LOTS more socks.

Rule 5.

Nobody is hungry, until you do not want to cook. Then, you do not have children, you have a pack of wild animals that have been starved for weeks. DO NOT BREAK EYE CONTACT. Throw food from a safe distance.

Rule 6,

Peace and harmony is something made up by Coca-Cola or some other brand to sell you shit, if all your children are getting on with each other, then they have reached a pact to kill you and hide your body in the woodshed, that is the only reason that alliances are formed. Don't drink the tea.

Rule 7

Children will eat food they have dropped on the floor, food OTHER PEOPLE have dropped on the floor and bogeys but if you walk towards them with a licked tissue to clean their face, YOU are disgusting.

Rule 8

Nothing is truly lost until your mum cannot find it. If she cannot find it, make peace with its loss. it has GONE.

GONE I TELL YOU.

Rule 9

SILENCE IS NEVER EVER GOLDEN. WHY ARE YOU SITTING THERE? INVESTIGATE IMMEDIATELY.

Rule 10

Sometimes there will be spontaneous love, just go with it, they've broken something. Deal with it later. Enjoy the moment.

Over to you guys, what other rules do you need to follow to survive children?

This was what I was thinking on Sunday, (Mother's Day, may I add. The day I wanted to spend IN BED) as I came back from my local park, covered head to toe in MUD, clutching a giant chocolate bunny, several plastic easter eggs and any dignity that I once had in a carrier bag, (That post will be up this afternoon and I swear to you right now, you give that post some love and affection or I will hunt you all down) smiling because I GOT THE SHOT.

At once stage in my local park, I was flat on my stomach, positioning a giant chocolate bunny in some heather whilst scattering fluffy chicks around it, keeping one eye on a Jack Russell that looked as if he couldn't decide whether to go for my arse or the rabbit. (hmmmmmmm, that will make one hell of a Google search sentence won't it?) whilst keeping an eye out for bees. This was then followed swiftly by three pensioners all asking if I was "okay down there?" Which was followed by two women with buggies asking if I was okay, followed by a small child asking what I was doing on the ground.

Public parks, wouldn't they be nice if they weren't so full of people?

I fell over quite dramatically in a pile of crocuses, knelt in something very suspicious that I really don't want to think too much about, and took many, many, many pictures like this.

THE THINGS WE DO FOR OUR BLOGS, RIGHT?????

I cannot be the only one who has had a total nightmare all for a blog post, can I?

Bloggers, share with me your blogging hell? Have you ever said, "The things we do for our blog"

Let me know what happened so I can feel less alone. (I won't laugh, I promise)

There are no other words that I have for the people who stood around, FILMING ON THEIR MOBILES and yelling at the man to get on with it, to jump, who wondered if he would bounce.

I am sickened, absolutely sickened that people out there can do this. My heart aches for the poor man who, at that moment felt that he had no place to turn and instead of being met with love, compassion and support, was met by SCUM.

People disgust me, they really do. I hope that the people who stood around taunting this man never, ever have to experience the loneliness or fear or depression that the deceased must have felt, or even experience such a loss in their family. I do not want anyone to feel the emotions that the deceased must have been going through at the moment he decided to end his life, but I hope that at one point in their lives they understand what they did and are truly sorry.

My stomach actually rolls with despair at the loss of any person in this world through suicide. I want to tell people that they matter, they truly matter, whether they feel it or not and that they are WORTH SAVING.

What the man should have been met with, when he thought he had no other option but to jump, was compassion and support, he should not have had people taunting him, encouraging him or filming him. THESE PEOPLE DISGUST ME. They absolutely disgust me.

If you haven't yet tried out any of the Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks by Bourjois, then you are genuinely missing out on a great lipstick.

Ever since these lipsticks were first released, I have loved everything about them and now Bourjois have released three new shades of the Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks for Spring.

There are three new shades,

10 - Don't Pink Of It

11 - So Hap'Pink

12 - Beau Brun

All easily wearable for spring when everyone reluctantly packs away their berry/wine coloured shades and FINALLY says goodbye to winter.

Left to right you have 10,11,12.

I love the formulation of these lipsticks and I have worn the darker shades all winter, I was a little concerned that the lipstick would feel too heavy for spring but it doesn't at all, instead, the three new shades bring versatility to the whole range and it means that I can continue to wear my favourite lipstick during the coming months.

The three new shades are available from the middle of March according to the press release that I received, and I highly recommend trying out the new shades when you look at new spring make up. (As IF we need an excuse to buy more lipstick)

So, Cheers Bourjois. HERE'S TO GREAT LIPSTICK.

Have you tried the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks? What are your thoughts?

And it really doesn't matter what sort of brand you want to destroy, being an arsehole and alienating one of the worlds most influential people as well as millions and millions of people around the world is probably the quickest way to do it. TK Maxx are probably creating the D & G signs for their stores as we speak because pretty soon that is probably where their stock is going to end up being sold, and you know what? It is what they deserve. What have Dolce & Gabbana done to deserve such hate?
Speaking to the Italian magazine Panorama alongside Stefano Gabbana, Domenico Gabbana said children should be born to a mother and a father.
“I’m not convinced by those I call the children of chemicals, synthetic children,” he added. “Wombs for rent, sperm chosen from a catalogue ... psychiatrists are not ready to confront the effects of this experimentation,” and 'the only family is a traditional one."SYNTHETIC CHILDREN?
Er, hold up mister. but IVF has helped millions of families create miracles. Much wanted, much loved children, and I do not CARE about the sexuality, gender, or number of parents a baby has. A child born to love is a very, very lucky child indeed.

Sir Elton John is quite rightly, FUMING.

My views on IVF are that it is AMAZING. To reduce a much wanted child to the term "synthetic baby" is repulsive, archaic and downright disgusting. D&G should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

I know many, many families that are created with the help of IVF, and I'm sure you do too.

D&G in the past, have repeatedly said that, in their opinion a family should have a mother and a father. In 2015, things are not quite so simple and this is a GOOD THING. A "family" is made up of people who love each other, and I am sad that D&G do not understand that. They have released a further statement saying that it is their own personal opinion.

Sorry really does seem to be the hardest word, doesn't it?

But I want to hear YOUR thoughts. Have you been helped by IVF in the past? What are your thoughts on D&G's opinions? Do you agree with Elton John and his call to boycott D&G or do you also believe that a family should be a traditional one?

Sunday, 15 March 2015

Saturday night is family night here, we all sit around with a takeaway and watch TV, have a takeaway and then play a game. A card game, Monopoly, or Uno. (Side note, never play Monopoly with my 8yr old, she will leave you penniless and without a home, one day she will make a great Prime Minister)

Recently I was asked by JUST EAT if I would like to review their service, let me think about that for a sec........thought about it. YES PLEASE.

Finding the Tried and Tasted section really helped me out, we are creatures of habit, we usually order from the same place each week and, luckily for us, our favourite take-away is on the JUST EAT website which gave us a great opportunity to see whether there was a difference in the service or quality to our usual order, Seeing the reviews online also helped, the highest quality restaurants on the website have to have more than 100 online reviews with an average rating of 4.5 or above.

There is also something new for 2105, this year, JUST EAT has introduced a new consistency award so look out to see whether your takeaway has this award, it recognises the top 20 from establishments who have achieved Tried & Tasted for four years in a row.

I love the idea that restaurants have something to aspire to like this.

We quickly created an account on JUST EAT, which took just seconds to do, and then got completely distracted by all the different take-away restaurants signed up to the website, we had a little wobble about whether we should try something new or not but in the end I stamped my foot and made an executive decision that this time we stick to our local take-away and NEXT time, try something different because we now have an account. (I win, I don't like to lose)

If you haven't ordered from JUST EAT before, and if you are like me, don't like to talk on the phone, then the website is a superb way to order. Usually there are 5 of us, all shouting over each other on the telephone, confusing the guy taking the order, changing our order halfway through and basically creating merry havoc. (That isn't just us, right? There is always someone who changes what they want, the minute you order it, isn't there?)

THE ORDER

"Well that's my order done, does anyone else want anything? "

The ordering process was simple, we could scroll through the menu, add what we wanted and at the end there was even a box to add extra instructions. (Less cheese, no green peppers on pizza)

The order was taken and instantly I received a confirmation email. BOOM, Sit back, watch The Voice and hide the Monopoly.

Half an hour later, FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

Yes, there is an egg in my burger, and WHAT?

Now before yesterday I had NEVER used the JUST EAT website to order a take away before. I was given the opportunity to do a review and I can genuinely say that from now on, I will be ordering this way. The ease of ordering, the simplicity of the site and the choice of restaurants has really swayed me. I hate talking on the phone anyway, so just being able to power up the Mac and order food for five people with ease makes it the best option for me.

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Friday, 13 March 2015

I think we all know by now that, back in January I got engaged to be married. (Cue the sound of millions of hearts breaking)

Ever since I got engaged, I have found myself checking out everyone else's engagement rings and comparing them to mine, (Mine is beautiful btw) but what I didn't really understand was the history of the engagement ring in general.

Luckily, Vashi Diamonds have come up with a REALLY REALLY cool infographic about the history of the engagement ring.

Now I get asked to share infographics a LOT, but this is actually the first infographic I have come across where the content is interesting for the reader. Whether you are getting married or not, I think you will enjoy taking a look and learning a couple of things, I know I did.

Now I am hoping that one of my children has a homework project on jewellery, I know what we will be doing it on if so.

Check out the infographic and let me know what you think.

And feel free to check out the sparkles at Vashi Diamonds. If diamonds are a girls best friend, make them the best friend that they could ever be.